Ignorance is Bliss
by Gemini1
Summary: Kaoru is 'enlightened' as to the true nature of love and relationships by Megumi and decides that she's no longer content to wait for Kenshin to get a clue.
1. Chapter 1

**Ignorance is Bliss**  
A Rurouni Kenshin Fanwork  
by Gemini

**Rated:** R for flesh bokkens and such. :p  
**Spoilers:** If you don't know about the Revenge Arc, Tomoe and Enishi, don't read this.  
**Timeline:** After the Revenge Arc, although this does not stick faithfully to the manga.  
**Disclaimer:** Rurouni Kenshin is property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueshia, Shonen Jump, Sony and most notably, NOT me.

* * *

There was a bite in the air, subtle, but still there, a sort of tinge that warned the observer that fall was moving slowly but inevitably towards winter. Kaoru lifted her nose and sniffed the air, breathing in the earthy scent of leaves and wood smoke. This was her favorite time of year, when green trees blushed scarlet and hot, muggy days of summer turned cool. She swung her legs back and forth from her perch on the engawa, enjoying the peaceful quiet of a lazy afternoon free of Yahiko's insults and Sano's freeloading. 

The wind picked up a bit, its cold fingers dancing across her, playing with her hair and her kimono. She shivered. Soon she would have to go about making winter preparations at the dojo. She tapped her chin thoughtfully as she tried to recall just how many quilts and how much warm bedding she had in the storage shed. Would there be enough for Kenshin, Yahiko and herself?

Of course, if she and Kenshin shared a futon, they wouldn't need as many quilts to keep warm. She blushed as red as the trees and giggled to herself. For quite some time now, such thoughts had been rather commonplace, assaulting her when she wasn't prepared for them, always stopping her in her tracks. Even though she had long been in love with the wandering swordsman, she had tended to think of him in romantic terms, not sexual ones. Her occasional naughty thoughts had been naïve and childish, products of a girl not too familiar with the machinations of sex.

She was definitely more knowledgeable about the whole thing now, thanks in no small part to Megumi. The sly doctor had taken it upon herself to educate Kaoru as soon as the bedraggled Kenshin-gumi had returned to the mainland, weary and saddened by Enishi's jinchuu against Kenshin.

The doctor had invited Kaoru to the clinic and Kaoru, in her naivety had thought the invitation had been a social one, a chance for the uneasy friends to catch up. She should have known better, really. Megumi had greeted her at the clinic gates with a mischievous glint in her expressive brown eyes that had immediately put Kaoru on her guard.

"It's very important that I speak to you, raccoon girl." The doctor had said as she pushed Kaoru into the clinic and down the narrow hallway into a private examination room.

Kaoru had been at first puzzled, then curious and finally, mortified as Megumi pulled out dozens of nishiki-e, all of them graphic to the last detail.

"It's only a matter of time now, raccoon. I am certain that as soon as Ken-san has recovered, he will make sure that you know just how much he missed you." Megumi tittered behind her hand, watching with amused eyes as Kaoru's face went from confusion to understanding, burning beet red in the process. The younger girl sputtered and shook her head, unable to form a coherent protest.

"What? You don't want him to?" Megumi began to ask, one elegant eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"No…I mean, yes, but…it's just that…" Kaoru tried and failed to explain herself, her hands waving in an attempt to clarify herself.

"Well, then quit being prudish and listen closely. I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about coupling, and a few things you don't really need to know, but that could prove useful in the future." Megumi flipped through the stack of lurid drawings before her, choosing one of the less graphic ones. "It all begins with seduction." she said, mischief lighting up her eyes.

Megumi's education had been thorough. Kaoru had gone from relative innocence to knowing as much about the art of sex as a wizened old prostitute. Of course, she hadn't had the opportunity to put any of the doctor's lessons into practice. Even though his wounds had mostly healed, even though she knew, thanks to the others, how he had suffered without her, and, even though she had gone out of her way to make herself available to him, Kenshin had not done a thing. He never discussed Enishi's jinchuu or their relationship. He never said anything except trite, polite things, comments about the weather or observations on laundry or cooking. It was as though nothing had happened, as though Enishi hadn't kidnapped her, hadn't left that grotesque puppet in her place, as though the whole thing had never happened.

Now annoyed, she scowled at the muted blue sky that she had, moments ago, been smiling at. "Mou!" she muttered out loud. 'Kenshin-no-baka!' she thought irritably.

"Kaoru-dono? Are you all right?" The object of her affections suddenly appeared in her field of vision, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Kenshin! Don't sneak up on me like that!" She scolded, pressing a slightly shaky hand to her thudding heart. She immediately tried to erase all dirty thoughts from her mind or else she would not be able to look at him.

"I apologize, Kaoru-dono. I didn't mean to sneak up on you." Kenshin rubbed the back of his head, a rueful smile plastered on his face, his rurouni mask firmly in place.

She wondered what he would be like in intimate moments, if he would drop all of his polite speech patterns and silly expressions, if he would be like he was when he fought Saitou, intense, focused. She wondered what he would say to her, how he would touch her, how he would taste. Her thoroughly inappropriate mental wanderings came crashing to a halt when Kenshin cleared his throat, waving his hand in front of her to catch her attention. She turned bright red again.

"Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin cocked his head to the side, eyeing her with concern. "Are you okay? You look a little flushed. You're not coming down with something, are you? Should I get Dr. Genzai?"

She stood up, hands clasped to her red face. "I'm fine!" she exclaimed, her voice slightly hysterical. She was deeply embarrassed. He was very good at reading people, if he even had an inkling of what she had been thinking…no! She didn't want to contemplate that. "Just fine!" she babbled, eyes firmly locked on the polished wood planks of her porch. "Nothing to worry about!" Suddenly aware that she was digging herself into a deeper hole, she offered him a strained, fleeting smile before brushing past him and rushing to her room, where she sought sanctuary.

Kenshin watched her rush away, a puzzled expression on his face.

* * *

A/N: According to my e-mail, this fic was written in November of 2003. It's a sort of companion piece/earlier version of my lime-flavored one-shot, Crave, which is available on my website and on Adult as well. I stumbled across it the other day, and as I read it, I thought, "Dang, this isn't half bad." So, here it is, slightly edited. 

Not an original concept, I know, but simply my take on how exactly Kenshin and Kaoru get together. The nishiki-e and Megumi angle was inspired by RikkiTikkiTavi's Wedding Discussion. Great fic!


	2. Chapter 2

**Ignorance is Bliss**  
A Rurouni Kenshin Fanwork  
by Gemini

**Rated:** R for flesh bokkens and such. :p  
**Spoilers:** If you don't know about the Revenge Arc, Tomoe and Enishi, don't read this.  
**Timeline:** After the Revenge Arc, although this does not stick faithfully to the manga.  
**Disclaimer:** Rurouni Kenshin is property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueshia, Shonen Jump, Sony and most notably, NOT me.

* * *

Sekihara Tae was a sympathetic woman. She was easy to talk to and it wasn't unusual for her customers, even complete strangers, to spill out their problems to her over a saucer of sake or a cup of hot tea. She didn't mind listening to other people's problems, in fact, she relished it. She loved offering advice or sympathy or simply a shoulder to cry on. It was in her nature to be generous. 

Tae's sharp eyes immediately noticed the dejected slump of her friend Kaoru's shoulders when the young woman walked into the newly refurbished Akabeko one late fall afternoon. Grabbing a tea pot and some cups, she bustled over to her friend and led her to a secluded table towards the back of the restaurant.

"Tell me what's wrong, Kaoru-chan." Tae said, pouring them both steaming hot cups of tea. "You look absolutely awful."

Kaoru was far too used to Tae's habits to be surprised when the woman marched her to a table and poured her tea. She had come to the Akabeko specifically to pour out her troubles to her only real female friend. Misao, the bubbly teenage ninja was too far away and too embroiled in her own romantic frustrations involving Shinomori Aoshi, and Megumi…she didn't want the doctor to tease her. She knew Tae would listen and help her.

Twisting the cup around in her hands, Kaoru spilled out everything. Tae listened, her brow knitted slightly, nodding and making sympathetic noises every once in a while.

"So, after everything, he's still avoiding the question?" Tae asked thoughtfully, her chin balanced on her hand, the fingers on her free hand tracing the rim of her tea cup, whose contents had long since cooled to room temperature.

Kaoru nodded miserably. "It's like it was when he first came to live with me. Nothing but Kaoru-dono this and Kaoru-dono that." she sniffled. "Yahiko told me how he was when he thought I was dead…how he fell apart. Doesn't that mean…?"

Tae nodded sagely. "I've seen how he looks at you, Kaoru-chan. That man is in love. He's just…well, I suppose he still feels too guilty to do anything about it." The older woman looked thoughtful for a long moment. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him around here much since this whole thing was resolved, either. He's been avoiding me."

Kaoru poured herself another cup of tea. "He feels guilty about the Akabeko being destroyed." she said softly. "When ever I suggest we come here for dinner or lunch, he comes up with an excuse for not going."

Tae shook her head. "That man is an idiot."

"Indeed." Kaoru chuckled morosely. "Of all the men in Tokyo I could have fallen in love with, I had to fall for a notorious ex-assassin with a guilt complex and a strange obsession with laundry." She sighed and put her tea cup down, suddenly not very interested in its lukewarm contents. "I should have listened to my father."

"Your father?" Tae quirked an eyebrow and sat up, her gossip radar going off.

"He wanted me to marry one of his students, his best student, in fact, a man named Kuro Akira. He was going to make arrangements for it when he returned from the war. But after he died and Gohei ruined my dojo's reputation, that so-called student of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu was nowhere to be found. But if I had married him when my father wanted me to…that spring, before he left, I suppose my life would be drastically different now, ne, Tae-san?" Kaoru looked thoughtfully at her friend.

"It certainly would." Tae replied, surprised by the information her friend had shared. "You would probably be a mother by now, among other things."

"A mother?" Kaoru looked more horrified than intrigued by the thought. "I'm not sure I'd be a very good mother, Tae-san. Look at poor Yahiko. His head is permanently lumpy from all the times I've whacked him with my bokken." She slumped back into her seat. "Maybe its better that I become an old maid. I'd rather not be responsible for ruining the next generation."

Tae rolled her eyes and reached across the table to gently swat her friend's head. "Listen to yourself, you silly baka! Since when do you give up? I've never known you to back down from a challenge. That's all this is, a challenge. Just pretend Kenshin-san's guilt is an opponent you have to beat. What would you do to subdue it?"

"Umm, hit it with my bokken?" Kaoru tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"That's not quite what I meant, Kaoru-chan. I don't think Kenshin-san would appreciate being beaten over the head. What I meant was, if you had to face a powerful opponent, what would you do? You have to analyze the situation first, determine the opponent's weaknesses, right? And then, once you've found the weak spot, you strike."

Kaoru blinked, slightly amazed. "I thought you were a restaurant-owner, Tae-san, not a samurai."

Tae giggled. "Well, I've picked up a few things here and there."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ignorance is Bliss**  
A Rurouni Kenshin Fanwork  
by Gemini

**Rated:** R for flesh bokkens and such. :p  
**Spoilers:** If you don't know about the Revenge Arc, Tomoe and Enishi, don't read this.  
**Timeline:** After the Revenge Arc, although this does not stick faithfully to the manga.  
**Disclaimer:** Rurouni Kenshin is property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueshia, Shonen Jump, Sony and most notably, NOT me.

* * *

'_Find a weakness, find a weakness._' Kaoru chanted in her head as she walked back to the dojo. '_But what kind of weakness? How is Kenshin weak?_' A voice that sounded strangely like that scary ex-Shisengumi, Saitou Hajime growled in her head, '_You are his weakness._' 

She scowled. '_What does that mean? I should get myself kidnapped again? All that would do is make him feel guiltier. No, no…I need to find something else._'

'_He is a man, raccoon girl. Men are naturally weak when it comes to members of the opposite sex._' Suddenly, Megumi had joined Saitou in Kaoru's head.

'_So what does that mean?_' Kaoru asked the fantasy kitsune-doctor.

'_Well, I know you don't have much of it…but perhaps you should utilize what little sex appeal you have and seduce him like I showed you._'

Kaoru turned bright red. '_There is no way I'm doing that…yet. He'd think I was a…a…woman of loose morals! And I have plenty of sex appeal!_'

Imaginary Megumi snorted. '_Right. Men love sweaty tomboys who prefer wooden bokkens to ones made out of flesh._'

'_Flesh bokkens? What…?_' Kaoru stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the road as imaginary Megumi's meaning became clear. '_Hentai!_'

The fox doctor in her head giggled. '_Raccoon-girl, I'm just a figment of your imagination. If anyone's perverted around here, it's you._'

Kaoru hung her head. '_I've become a pervert._' she said sadly to herself.

"Kaoru-dono?" Once again, the love of her life, the idiotic ex-assassin with a guilt complex had managed to startle her at a moment when she would have preferred to be alone. "Are you all right?"

Kaoru suppressed a shriek. '_Why does he keep doing that? Do I need to put bells around his neck so I can hear him coming?_' That thought led to some other, more inappropriate thoughts that she immediately had to squash before she began spurting blood out of her nose and keeled over.

"Kaoru-dono?"

"I'm fine, Kenshin." Kaoru managed to squeak. "I was just…um…thinking about something."

Kenshin studied her for a long moment. "You've been acting rather strange lately, Kaoru-dono. Are you all right? Do you want to talk about anything?"

'_Yes! I want to talk about how I love you so much it hurts and how I'd like to hurt you because you're still sleeping in another room and calling me Kaoru-dono, you clue-less moron!_' She shook her head. "No, no, everything's fine, Kenshin."

He didn't look convinced, but he dropped the subject. "Let me walk you home, Karou-dono."

She realized then that he was carrying the tofu bucket and some other assorted packages.  
"I didn't know you were going to go shopping Kenshin, I would have gone with you."

He smiled. "I didn't know we were running so low on ingredients. It was a last minute trip." He shifted the packages and bucket around until he had a hand free to lightly grasp Kaoru's elbow to guide her, the most he would ever touch her.

She wanted to cry as she felt the warmth of his fingers through her sleeve. It was so little…not enough for her. She wanted him touch her everywhere, to lose his guilt and reservations and finally let her love him like he deserved.

They did not speak as they made their way down the street towards the dojo, each lost in thought. When Kenshin let go of Kaoru's elbow to open the gate for her, she felt the loss of his touch keenly. Finally unable to hold back her tears, she gave a hasty excuse and rushed to her bedroom, wanting to be alone.

* * *

A/N: Flesh bokkens. Hee hee. 


End file.
